Warlimpirrnga Tjapaltjarri / Tingari (50031)

Warlimpirrnga Tjapaltjarri was born in the late 1950s in Pintupi country east of Kiwirrkurra, near the vast salt lake Wilkinkarra (Lake Mackay). For the first 25 years of his life he lived a traditional, nomadic existence with his family, moving with the seasons through the Great Sandy Desert with no contact with non-Indigenous Australia. In 1984 he was the eldest member of the small Pintupi family group who walked into the newly established community of Kiwirrkurra — an event that made headlines worldwide and is now known as the story of the Pintupi Nine.

Soon after their arrival, Warlimpirrnga observed senior men painting and asked to begin working himself. In 1987 he completed his first painting, and the following year his debut exhibition in Melbourne was purchased in its entirety by the National Gallery of Victoria — an unprecedented recognition for a first-time artist, and a powerful indication of the trajectory to come.

Warlimpirrnga paints the sacred Tingari and Snake Dreaming narratives of his ancestral lands, including the sites of Maruwa, Minatapinya, Kanapilya and Kalparti. His extraordinary optical surfaces — shifting fields of dots and lines that evoke heat haze, wind-shaped sandhills and hidden watercourses — reflect an intimate connection to land, Law and ceremony. While visually mesmerising, the deeper meanings in his work are held within men’s ceremonial knowledge.

Art runs strongly through his family. After establishing his own practice, Warlimpirrnga passed on painting knowledge to his younger brothers Walala and Thomas, both of whom became highly regarded artists in their own right. Walala continues to paint today, while Thomas — a beloved figure within both the art world and his community — sadly passed away in 2024. The three brothers together have had a profound influence on the contemporary Western Desert movement.

Today, Warlimpirrnga is widely recognised as one of the most important and sought-after living Aboriginal artists. His paintings have been shown in major exhibitions across Australia, Europe and the United States and feature in leading museums and private collections worldwide. A milestone came in 2016 when one of his works set a new auction record in London, firmly cementing his international standing.

Despite this global profile, Warlimpirrnga maintains deep ties to country. He spends time between Alice Springs and Kiwirrkurra, returning regularly to the desert landscapes that inspire his practice. His paintings offer a powerful visual experience — an invitation into Pintupi Country, where ancient stories ripple beneath the surface and remind us that this land remains alive with ancestral presence.

Selected Collections

• Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
• National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
• Musee du quai Branly, Paris
• The Kelton Foundation, Santa Monica
• Macquarie Group Collection, Sydney
• National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
• Griffith University Art Collection, Queensland College of Art, Brisbane
• Harvard Art Museum, Cambridge, USA
• Hank Ebes Collection, Melbourne
• The Luczo Family Collection, USA
• Artbank, Sydney
• Museo Sa Bassa Blanca, Mallorca, Spain
• Corrigan Collection, Sydney
• Luciano Benetton Collection, Venice
• Fondation Burkhardt-Felder Arts et Culture, Motiers, Switzerland
• Smith Davidson Collection, Amsterdam and Miami

Selected Solo Exhibitions

• 2017 Marawa, Piermarq, Sydney
• 2015 Maparntjarra, Salon 94, New York, USA
• 2009 Warlimpirrnga Tjaplatjarri, Patrick Tjungurrayi, Scott Livesey Galleries, Melbourne
• 1988 Warlimpirrnga Tjaplatjarri, Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi, Melbourne

Selected Group Exhibitions (2010 – Present)

• 2025 Tjukurrpa: The Dreaming, Unit Gallery, London
• 2025 The Pintupi Nine: Tradition and Legacy, Kate Owen Gallery, Sydney
• 2024 Pintupi Nine, Art Mob, Hobart
• 2024 Landscapes, Utopia Art, Sydney
• 2024 20 Years | Keeping the Fire Burning, Art Mob, Hobart
• 2024 Black + White, Kate Owen Gallery, Sydney
• 2024 Tingari – Desert Men, Japingka Gallery, Fremantle
• 2023 Papunya Tula Artists Community XIV, Utopia Art, Sydney
• 2022 Australian Indigenous Art from the Smith Davidson Collection, Smith Davidson Gallery, New York
• 2022 Fifty Years Papunya Tula Artists, Utopia Art, Sydney
• 2022 Nations 2022, Art Mob, at the Henry Jones Art Hotel Packing Room, Hobart
• 2022 Irrititja Kuwarri Tjungu | Past & Present Together: 50 Years of Papunya Tula Artists, Part 2, Kluge-Ruhe Collection, University of Virginia, Charlottesville VA, USA
• 2022 Art Mob’s 20th Birthday Exhibition, Art Mob, Hobart
• 2022 Palya – a tribute to Steve Ariston, Art Mob, Hobart
• 2021 Community XII – 50 Years of Papunya Tula Artists, Utopia Art, Sydney
• 2021 50 Years of Papunya Tula Artists, Kate Owen Gallery, Sydney
• 2021 Irrititja Kuwarri Tjungu (Past & Present Together): 50 Years of Papunya Tula Artists, Part 1: 1971 – 1995, Kluge Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection of the University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, USA
• 2021 Voyage across Aboriginal Australia – Founders’ Favourites, Fondation Burkhardt-Felder Arts et Culture, Moitiers, Switzerland
• 2021 Papunya Tula: 50 years 1971-2021, S.H. Erwin Gallery, Sydney
• 2021 Top Ten Artists 2020, Kate Owen Gallery, Sydney
• 2020 Desert Painters of Australia – Two Generations, Gagosian Gallery, Hong Kong
• 2020 Central Focus, Art Mob, Hobart
• 2020 Pintupi Masters – Enduring Dreamings, Kate Owen Gallery, Sydney
• 2020 Mapa Wiya (Your Map’s Not Needed): Australian Aboriginal Art from the Fondation Opale, The Menil Collection, Houston, TX, USA
• 2020 Director’s Choice 2020, Kate Owen Gallery, Sydney
• 2019 Pintupi Artists of the Western Desert, Japingka Gallery, Fremantle
• 2019 Defining Tradition: the first wave & its disciples, Kate Owen Gallery, Sydney
• 2019 Desert Painters of Australia – paintings from the Steve Martin Collection, Gagosian Galleries, New York and Los Angeles
• 2019 defining tradition | black + white, Kate Owen Gallery, Sydney
• 2019 Significant, D’Lan Contemporary, Melbourne
• 2019 Warlimpirrnga, Walala and Thomas Tjaplajarri Exhibitions, Mitchell Fine Art Gallery, Brisbane
• 2018 2018 Papunya Tula Artists: Visual Rhythm II, Paul Johnstone Gallery, Darwin
• 2018 Tjukurrpa: Stories from the Western Desert, Piermarq, Sydney
• 2018 Three Brothers, Kate Owen Gallery, Sydney
• 2018 Reverence – Sydney Contemporary, D’Lan Davidson, Sydney
• 2018 Significant, D’Lan Contemporary, Melbourne
• 2017 Desert Mob, Araluen Arts Centre, Alice Springs
• 2017 Sydney Contemporary, Carriageworks, Sydney
• 2017 On View, Olsen Gruin Gallery, New York
• 2017 Annual Pintupi Exhibition, Papunya Tula Artists, Alice Springs
• 2017 NEW – The latest from Kiwirrkurra, Utopia Art, Sydney
• 2017 Papunya Tula Artists – A Survey, Paul Johnstone Gallery, Darwin
• 2016 From the Western Desert, James Makin Gallery, Melbourne
• 2016 No Boundaries: Aboriginal Australian Contemporary Abstract Painting, Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, Detroit, Michigan, USA
• 2016 No Boundaries: Aboriginal Australian Contemporary Abstract Painting, Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA
• 2015 No Boundaries: Aboriginal Australian Contemporary Abstract Painting, Nevada Museum of Art, Reno, Nevada, USA; Portland Institute for Contemporary Art, Portland, Oregon, USA; Perez Art Museum Miami, Florida, USA
• 2015 Community VII, Utopia Art, Sydney
• 2014 George Tjungurrayi – Warlimpirrnga Tjapaltjarri, Scott Livesey Galleries, Melbourne
• 2014 The 38th Alice Prize, Araluen Art Centre, Alice Springs
• 2014 Reticulation, A Multi Authored Survey Of The USU Art Collection, Verge Gallery, Sydney
• 2014 Parcours des Mondes, Arts d Australie, Stephane Jacob, Paris
• 2014 George Tjungurrayi – Warlimpirrnga Tjapaltjarri, Scott Livesey Galleries, Melbourne
• 2014 Abstraction, Utopia Art, Sydney
• 2013 Travelling Through Country, Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi, Melbourne
• 2013 Salon des refuses, Darwin
• 2013 Recent Works, Papunya Tula Artists, Alice Springs, Northern Territory
• 2013 Papunya Tula Artists, Masters of The Western Desert Of Australia, Harvey Art Projects USA, Sun Valley
• 2013 Painting Now, Utopia Art, Sydney
• 2013 George Tjungurrayi, Ronnie Tjampitjinpa & Warlimpirrnga Tjapaltjarri, ReDot Fine Art Gallery, Singapore
• 2013 Desert Mob, Araluen Art Centre, Alice Springs
• 2013 Community V, Utopia Art, Sydney
• 2012 Visual Rhythm, Cross Cultural Art Exchange, Darwin
• 2012 Unique Perspectives: Papunya Tula Artists and the Alice Springs Community, Araluen Arts Centre, Alice Springs
• 2012 Tjukurrpa Ngaatjanya Maru Kamu Tjulkura – Dreaming In Black And White, ReDot Gallery, Singapore
• 2012 dOKUMENTA (13), Kassel, Germany
• 2012 Desert Mob, Araluen Arts Centre, Alice Springs
• 2012 Community IV: Celebrating Forty Years of Papunya Tula Artists, Utopia Art, Sydney
• 2012 Black and White, ReDot Gallery, Singapore
• 2012 Classic Works from Papunya Tula Artists, Utopia Art, Sydney
• 2012 Abstraction, Utopia Art, Sydney
• 2011 Revival in Small, Artkelch, Freiburg
• 2011 Recent Pintupi Works, Papunya Tula Artists, Alice Springs
• 2011 Pintupi Trails 2011, Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi, Melbourne
• 2011 Australia in Two Colours, Artkelch Collectors Lounge, Schorndorf
• 2011 Art Karlsruhe 2011, Karlsruhe
• 2011 Aboriginal Art 2011, Scott Livesey Galleries, Melbourne
• 2011 40 years of Papunya Tula Artists, Utopia Art, Sydney
• 2010 Wilkinkarralakutu – Journeys to Lake Mackay, Cross Cultural Art Exchange, Darwin
• 2010 Papunya Tula Artists: Art of the Western Desert, Harvey Art Projects USA, Sun Valley
• 2010 Ngurra Kutju Ngurrara, Belonging To One Country, ReDot Gallery, Singapore
• 2010 Desert Icons Australasian Arts Project, Singapore
• 2010 Art Bodensee 2010, Dornbirn, Austria
• 2010 Aboriginal Art 2010, Scott Livesey Galleries, Melbourne

This work by Warlimpirrnga Tjapaltjarri depicts ancestral Tingari narratives connected to Wilkinkarra (Lake Mackay), a vast salt lake on the Pintupi homelands. The Tingari are powerful ancestral beings whose journeys across the desert shaped the landscape and left behind the ceremonial knowledge still taught today. Their travels are recalled through designs such as these, which evoke sacred sites, water sources and shifting sandhills.

Rendered in soft blue and cream, the painting has a gentle, almost atmospheric presence, yet its surface vibrates with finely controlled lines and hundreds of carefully placed dots. The rhythmic movement across the canvas suggests wind patterns over dunes, the mirage-like shimmer of salt country, and the pathways of the Tingari as they moved east through desert country.

While the painting holds deeper meanings known only to initiated men, its visual strength lies in this balance between what can be seen and what remains concealed — a quiet, mesmerising invitation into the enduring presence of country and story.